Thursday, April 30, 2015

Good morning all. My name is Joy. I am Sandy's assistant. I will be taking over her blog today as she is running around like a crazy women mumbling something about how we are never going to get all of these quilts pieced, quilted, bound and photographed before May 12th - which is market pack up day.

The weeks before market are pure craziness here at the studio.

First there is the constant peering out the window to see if she can spot the UPS truck. Any day now, Mr. Brown should be delivering Sandy's new fabric line Prints Charming. After days of waiting, Mr. Brown arrives with big packages.

But are they the right packages?

Yes! I see blue and white tape. Sandy does a happy dance.

Prints Charming has arrived - let the craziness begin!

During all of this market craziness Sandy always seems to get a severe case of "market brain".

For example - last week on our way back to work after our lunch break, we passed by a billboard.

Here was the conversation that ensued.

Sandy:

Did you see that billboard. It said Quilt For Good. Quilt For Free.

Joy:

Really, you think it said Quilt For Good. Quilt For Free.

Sandy:

Yes. And I am going around the block so I can read the fine print and see what this quilt for free is all about.

Joy: Okay you do that. (We drive around the block to get the details.) This is what we see.

Quit For Good. Quit for Free. QUIT - not quilt. BIG difference.

Sandy: I'm blaming "market brain".

Joy: You really need to get some sleep.

Now you tell me - which of us has the better head on her shoulders - market brain or not.

(I'm pretty sure it is me.)

There is so much more to do than just getting these seven market quilts finished before May 12th.

#1 Green Thumb

Just the embroidery and quilting left to do.

#2 Sew Crazy

Started but not finished.

#3 Crown Jewel

Have not even cut this one. Yikes!

#4 Pick-up Stix

About 1/2 done.

#5 Her Majesty

Half square triangles are being made as I type.

#6 One and Done

At the quilters. Yippee!

#7 Radiant Beauty

Just the last two borders to go!

Here is the rest of the to-do list

• Sell sheets to be designed, proofed, printed, folded and boxed.

• Sandy has to design her booth - which I hear involves painting table and chairs.

• Make new chair cushions for the booth chairs.

• Booth walls need to be painted to match her new line of fabric Prints Charming.

• A trip out of town to buy some new booth carpet.

• 4 quilt blocks need to be pieced for the Moda School house. (Something about Schoolhouse Shuffle)

• The designer needs to pretty up a bit. A shower would be nice. Followed by a haircut and color. And those toes - if she is planning on wearing sandals - she needs to get a pedicure. Pretty sure her toes have not seen the inside of a Pedi salon since October of 2014. Yikes! And maybe she should shave her legs before she gets a pedi - just sayn'. Wowzer.

• Shopping for clothes - that fit. (There was a lot of snacking going on this past winter)

• She said something about making me a new dress for market.

Well I hope so.

If she thinks I am going to wear the same thing

I wore last year she has another think coming.

Then there are the things that are NOT on the to-do list and rarely happen during the weeks before market.

Here is the NOT to-do list:

• Sleep. (Only if she can catch a quick nap at the sewing machine.)

• Preparing a meal.

She served the hubby leftovers for dinner AGAIN tonight.

She served them on the fine china and with wine as a decoy. I see she paired the leftovers with white wine. (The hubby does not drink wine - so I am pretty sure we all know who is drinking the wine.)

• Wash clothes.

• Shower. (Good thing I don't have much of a nose.)

• Empty the trash.

The hubby, who does all of Sandy's printing, is usually pretty good about picking up the slack at market time. But this year he has been mysteriously absent. He claims there is nothing he can do until he receives the photographs of the quilts. He is always mumbling something about not being able to print a pattern cover until he has a picture of the quilt to put on the pattern cover. (He might have a point.)

This pattern cover would be a tough sell.

And I'm pretty sure we would be receiving some cranky phone calls.

But I think there are other things he could do like take out the freight boxes.

(I would take them out myself - if I could.)

He claims he is too busy with important meetings west of town. It seemed that some of his friends also had meetings west of town. After quite a few of these said meetings I decided to go west of town to investigate. Only one problem - no drivers license. For some reason the state will not issue me a drivers license. Every time I go to the drivers license office they all look at me like I have two heads…

clearly not the case.

So I commissioned one of my friends to come to the rescue.

She picked me up in her Astro van.

The Astro is a great stake-out vehicle - big windows.

We headed west.

And like any good PI, we followed the trial…

of golf carts. BUSTED!

I'm sure you are all thinking Sandy is never going to get everything on her to-do list done.

I can assure you she will. She has very dedicated seamstresses who are willing to work the extra hours and put in the extra effort to get it done. She couldn't do it without them.

I best be going - I need to get back to doing what I do best.

Sit in a corner and look pretty.

The following designers have blog post today. Check them out to see who has taken over their blogs.

So glad Joy was able to get that blog post written! She has great shoulders on which to put a head! Glad Sandy has her sense of humor intact and the beginnings of a list of priorities! I loved that leftover dinner setting! My kind of meal!

About Sandy

I have always had an interest in art and sewing. My mother taught me how to sew at a young age. In high school I made my own clothes and made greeting cards for my friends. Later on I made cards for my boyfriend, who later became my husband. On the advice of my high school counselor I did not pursue a career in art. I was told that an "A" in high school art does not make you an artist. In 1988 I set out to prove that counselor wrong (or right) and started a greeting card company, " My Dream Designs." In 1992 I combined my love of art and sewing skills and the pattern company "Pieces From My Heart" was born. In spring of 1994, I attended my first international Quilt Market in St. Louis, where I was discovered by Moda Fabrics. Many fabric lines later, I am thrilled to be designing fabric for Moda. Designing fabric allows me to work with different color pallets, which is my favorite part of designing. I reside in Algona, Iowa with my husband Bruce. We have two grown children, Anthony and Abby. Pieces From My Heart Books and Patterns are available at your local quilt shop or go to www.piecesfrommyheart.net